Connections
by wolfseer4life33
Summary: A trio of friends isn't uncommon. One might say it's a requirement to be a part of one. These trios mostly formed during the creation of the UN; however... There is one trio united by a strange Ancient that have stuck together for thousands of years; their friendship standing the test of time and secrets so dark that they cannot be spoken of. This is their story.


_**A/N: This was a story that was inspired by summer164's The Colony Trio**_ _**thus that trio belongs to her not me even though I'll be using the term now and then. This puts together three of my favorite characters and I finally get to use some headcannon info I've been meaning to get off my chest. On the other hand...updates for this are going to be rather slow as I have several other fics to update, one of them weekly. Just warning you. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the Colony Trio; their rightful owners have ownership with or without paper work. Let the story begin. **_

Connections

Mail was important to America. After all, it connected him to countries that he would never meet face to face as equals for centuries. In the body of a young man, he used to represent all of the native tribes, traveling around exchanging stories and items such as shells and furs for shelter and food. His hair was black back then and he had darker skin and eyes but he was still the energetic man America still is today. Canada used to have silver hair and slightly paler skin than America that was mostly covered with a fur jacket. The two brothers used to talk all the time and called each other their native names. There were other people they talked too as well; an Ancient called Island gave them odd instruments that they used to communicate long distance. They would learn later that they were called 'quill' and 'paper'.

They were introduced to Sjor and Eydis who raised Canada and gave America his first familiar, an eagle of a breed he had never seen before. The eagle responded to a strange language called Icelandic and the brothers learned it quickly. They had to be good with languages since they lived among so many tribes. Each major tribe had its own personification of course but as in any civilization, one person had to represent the population as a whole. Sjor called himself Iceland and Eydis called herself Greenland. They were Canada and America's first correspondents.

Iceland already kept up contact with several other countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romano. The Baltic nations had no idea it was him until he became the first country to formally recognize them as independent from the USSR. He referred to himself as 'Freedom', his deepest desire. He wrote to the three countries in their native languages but he did not know that by doing so, he helped them keep their independent cultures, reminding them of their uniqueness. As for Romano, geographically there was no way either of them would meet until the World Conferences were implemented. However, the Ancient of the Islands was able to travel to Italy through Sicily, and convinced Romano to try writing to Iceland. Romano's familiar, a wolf, and Iceland's arctic fox carried these messages to the sea where Greenland's puffin would take them.

Romano liked talking to Iceland through the letters; it made him less lonely and gave him someone to rant his frustrations to. They never met face to face but it didn't matter to them. They understood each other and that was all that mattered. Eventually, Iceland got around to telling Romano about America and Canada. Romano asked if he could write to the two countries and Iceland agreed. America and Canada liked Romano too who let them get away with more nonsense than Iceland did. Well, Iceland couldn't actually enforce anything on the two brothers but he really did not want them swearing or playing with snakes while Romano congratulated them on their creativity. Their argument led to a series of 'letter fights' between Iceland and Romano though the 'fight' was more comical than anything else. Greenland would be laughing for years over their arguments.

This all happened about two thousand years before America became a superpower, Romano became a sour puss and Iceland tried to reject his family. Iceland visited America and Canada secretly; he did not want Canada and America to become Nordic colonies. He knew better than anyone how bad it was to be a Nordic colony. Every year he would brush with death in the winter. Every century, a volcano or a geyser would blow off poisonous gas, scorching water, lava and rock and hurt his population. Every visit from his brothers would lead to belittling, physical bullying, and tears that fell went they left. Of course it was more complicated then 'poor me my life sucks'. Iceland was ferociously independent; he had been the first modern Parliament and over the years, harbored practically all anti-Viking/Nordic information. HEven under the Nordics he was probably the most defiant of them all but it often went unnoticed even by his neighbors. His language was distinctly different, closer to Norse than Norwegian or Danish and his foods were 100% Icelandic inspired and created. The nation as well as the people was proud to have survived all the hardships and went from poor to one of the best places to live in within eight decades. He despised being drawn as the 'baby' of the Nordics and as weak. Did he not endure attacks from not just Vikings but Turks and Brits as well? Did he not endure volcanic eruptions that nearly cost him his identity? Rage boiled in his blood but he kept quiet, not wanting to start yet another war. The pain of it all however, still got to his head now and then, particularly during significant days in his memories.

Iceland wrote and wrote and wrote, stubbornly in Icelandic even though Denmark would beat him over it, in order to counter these episodes of insanity. Letters, letters, letters, flew into the American-Canadian village and the Italian villa. Iceland never wrote about his pain to the Baltics; his brothers could easily wheedle the truth out of them and in reality, they were a lot like him. It just wouldn't make sense to complain about something that they themselves also experienced but said nothing about. Iceland wrote stories, plays, and even more letters but didn't want to add to his current correspondent's pile. After confiding to Island about it, three letters reached him in languages he had nearly forgotten.

Scotland, Ireland and Wales all helped raised Iceland when he was a child and they would always regret leaving him at the mercy of the Nordics. They gave him a red blanket and a Celtic cross to remember them by but they knew it wasn't enough. That's when Island decided to pay the British Isles a visit. England had kicked her out almost immediately but the other three countries welcomed the Ancient into their homes. She told them about the ring of correspondence the Atlantic Ocean had once they asked her what their little Iceland was doing. They were and are proud of Iceland's defiance to Demark and to the other Nordics and would, and still do cheer him on silently. They were proud that Iceland was creating his own ring of friends and family. He was growing up and they couldn't be happier for him. Island told them that he needed more people to write too, after all, the amount of nations are limited and very few could reach Iceland easily. The three siblings agreed to write to their brother in their language, hoping he would still understand. He wasn't like England who had betrayed all three of them so brutally. Yes, he was growing up and developing his own identity. Yes, he still needed their love and comfort at times. But he could take care of himself, he was tough and he could and would endure it all. Yes, there were times when Iceland would fall into depression. That only meant that the people that loved him had to pull him out of it again.

Iceland did crack their languages and wrote back after a week, a pile of coffee, flashbacks and a few head bangs. Apparently, that process worked though Emil, his arctic fox, recommended that he find a less painful solution. Mr. Puffin or Hildr was Greenland's familiar. He always was after all, only puffins and polar bears could take Greenland and that was when it was in the summertime. Iceland however, also supported a healthy population of arctic foxes, the only mammal on Iceland at the time. Sjor fell into Iceland's possession when Greenland became too weak to support having two familiars, her other being a polar bear named Magn. Magn's only cub became Canada's familiar, Kumajiro. He was a strong male polar bear and stayed with Greenland loyally though he never blamed Hildr for leaving.

America and Canada also received letters from the British Isles once the Europeans started visiting North America often and, as it was their talent, learned the languages quickly. Island visited them a few times, correcting their spelling and helping them hunt. The Ancient knew she was going to last longer than her European counterparts and she wanted to make the most of it. When they asked her if she was ever going to die she shrugged and said "it'll happen the day they stop using the word 'islander'". But that word hasn't stopped being used by governments and by people so Island is still alive. The Pacific Islanders are still technically Islanders, they are part of the reason she's still alive. She disappeared after the Cold War though and no country had reported seeing her after that. The last sighting was by Greenland so perhaps the Ancient was staying in the Arctic Circle though no one knew why she would stay in such a cold place. Two thousand years ago though, her death was the last thing on her mind as she travelled the globe, helping out all of the island nations and their neighbors, the mainlanders.

When colonialism and imperialism began in the Americas though, Romano finally met his correspondent of two thousand years. He did not expect to see a small blonde child but America quickly filled him in on that.

England had started pushing America's native people off of their land and named the stolen land America. It had pulled a magical trigger and turned America back into a child who resembled the Englishmen. It was most likely a defensive trigger for if America looked like England, he was less likely to get hurt. So 'Shining Eagle' had become 'America' as 'Silent Bear' became 'Canada'. Romano was furious; how dare England waltz in and cause all of this! America calmed him down…eventually and Romano settled to calling England a bastard at every time he was mentioned. Iceland was also upset and asked America if he wanted Iceland to send some volcanic smoke over to England. America declined though when one of Iceland's volcanoes blew up naturally and caused trouble all over Europe, America did give him a high-five.

When Spain started his colonial empire, before England even started causing chaos in the North America, Romano went on a more than rebellious streak. He stole all of Spain's tomatoes, wrecked the house more often, pranked Spain, spoke to him more rudely, and refused to help him on his conquests personally though some of his people liked what Spain was doing. Aztec and Inca weren't what you called model countries but Romano hated what Spain put them through. All of the illness, the famine, the three hundred years of cruelty sickened Romano. There was a reason why he hated Spain and it was because of what he did to his colonies. Hate piled on hate; Romano always believed Spain kept him because he was part of Rome's legacy and that was it. Why would he bother though? Rome obviously loved Italy more. Romano ran away to his villa often, to escape, to ensure he was rejected because he hated that he loved Spain. He hated loving a person who could laugh as monstrous things. Such was Romano's fate, he loved Rome who had bullied him and the other Ancients and he loved Spain who conquered and tortured whole civilizations for centuries. There was a different division that separated Romano from his brother. North Italy represented all of the wealth, the patrician class, the well off Italian jewelers, fashion designers, merchants etc. South Italy represented the common folk the farmers, the poor, the plebeians, and the mafia. It was more than that though, that's too cliché, too shallow too simple. But it's something Romano can't speak of and though Iceland and America know what it is, they never ask him about it. Iceland and America knew what is like to have a broken heart and secrets so dark they can never be exposed. That's why they never questioned him and that's why he loved both of them like brothers even though they were so far away.

America and Iceland met in the 20th century when America tried to buy Iceland. America never believed Iceland was a piece of land but he wanted to get Iceland away from his family and convinced his boss to try to reach an agreement with Denmark. Iceland looked like Canada in his early days except frailer; his lack of food was taking its toll. America was so furious that it took five days for him to calm down enough to talk to Denmark without punching him in the face. Iceland also considered moving in with Canada at one point as well but nationalism happened and caused him to try to endure being Iceland a little longer. America and Canada supported him even though they couldn't visit him often and never without Denmark knowing. Romano kept up their correspondence faithfully even as tensions in Europe started to peak. They were family.

World War I was the first time international war was created. At this point, America had lost an eye when he was fighting England; England himself shot his eye out. Iceland also had a disfigured eye; it was completely lava red because Norway had cast a spell on him that hit him in the eye. It had been to for 'discipline' but Iceland was so bitter at this point he believed Norway enjoyed torturing him. Romano had a crooked nose, broken when he had tried to protect Peru by Spain. Rome had broken it centuries earlier during 'practice' which was closer to 'beat the life out of Romano'. All of them were really quite sick of fighting but they couldn't stop the war. America had tried to stay neutral but that failed rather fast though Iceland managed to succeed. Romano also participated but downplayed his fighting skills. It wouldn't do to become a target.

Because of the war though, they all finally met. In a private meeting room on Sicily, America, Romano and Iceland met for the first time. Countries like to form trios and this trio was no exception. Scotland, Ireland and Wales are considered a trio despite their close relationship with other countries. Canada formed a trio, made up of Australia, himself and India. Out of all of England's colonies, during the world wars, they suffered the most losses though Hong Kong during WWII came awfully close. Australia got a scar across his nose when he fought at Gallipoli and India began to get migraines when so many of his soldiers were shot in the head. Canada began to lose his vision which is why he got glasses. The German tear gas damaged his eyesight forever. Canada and America were still close brothers but they were beginning to move apart into their own separate lives and that was alright. Neither of them wanted to stand in each other's shadow, well more Canada than America but the intention was there. America didn't hold it against him, he was still sore over 1812, and Canada still helped him in his many wars despite the equivocalness of them.

When America, Iceland and Romano first met, the first thing they did was shake hands before silently hugging each other, trying to get to know each other's physical appearance. Romano and America met but only briefly while Iceland had only been able to meet America; Denmark prevented other talks between the two until Iceland achieved his independence. There were light-hearted jokes about their appearance and questions of how they hid their appearances. America still had some native magic he used and Iceland had fashioned an amulet with his own magic, inherited from his mother. Romano however had to travel to Romania to get an amulet. The Balkan nation was always the most defiant and was sort-of-a-sibling-not-really-Rome-was-a-pimp *cough*. Anyways, the two had similar names and their cultures were somewhat similar…not much but a bit of similarity was there. They exchanged stories and later, phone numbers and email addresses. They talk via cell phone every week regardless of how busy their schedule is and after world meetings, they sneak away to a nice, quiet restaurant to enjoy each other's company.

Peace was not theirs. During World Wars I and II they were a squad of spies that were captured and experimented on for three horrible years because they could not die. They refused to let a scrap of information go but no one cared about their sacrifice. America suffered the worst, the Great Depression, the Cold War, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, all hurt him terribly. Iceland, in his need to survive waged the 'Cod War' against England. He knew he needed the fish or else his country might not survive and he knew his location was valuable enough for England to at least negotiate and not blow him sky high. Romano suffered through Mussolini's rule and dealt with the Italian mafia which decided to hang out on his side of Italy. Even now, 'Italy' was still having problems.

There was no way they were going to keep their secret relationship or their horrible past from coming forward for long though. With the modern world in full swing, no one can keep secrets, no matter how long or how well they were hidden. One day, when the storm clouds began to gather, their secret connection was revealed.

_**.**_


End file.
